Introduction

With social media being a crucial part of your role as a politician, these toolkits and accompanying training modules are designed to help keep you safe online.While there are numerous benefits to using social media, there are potential pitfalls to be aware of, including online abuse which some politicians have faced. Politicians across the political spectrum have experienced homophobic, racist, gender-based or ableist abuse.Such abuse can lead people to leave politics or deter them from entering politics in the first place. The chilling effect on democracy has prompted the University of Liverpool to conduct a range of research into this issue. An investigation carried out by the BBC’s Shared Data Unit in 2022 found that over 3,000 offensive Tweets were sent to MPs every day. The article, which can be read here, said:

Analysis of three million tweets aimed at MPs over a six-week period found more than 130,000, around one in 20, could be classed as toxic.The investigation also found that female MPs were more likely to be subject to abuse by being called "thick" and "ignorant" than their male colleagues. They were also more likely to be subject to sexualised language than their male colleagues.

Whether you have just been elected or have been a councillor for a number of years, there should be something here for all when it comes to using social media as part of your role.

Introduction from the Local Government Association

The Local Government Association is the national membership body for local authorities and we work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government. Our core membership is 315 of England’s 317 councils, with all Welsh unitary councils having membership via the Welsh Local Government Association. We are a politically-led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure that local government has a strong, credible voice with local government, as well as providing a range of practical improvement support to councils. The LGA is running a Debate Not Hate campaign, which aims to encourage healthy debate and improve the responses and support for local politicians facing abuse and intimidation.